polymorphism

[ pol-ee-mawr-fiz-uhm ]

noun

1. the state or condition of being polymorphous.
2. Crystallography. crystallization into two or more chemically identical but crystallographically distinct forms.
3. Biology. the existence of an organism in several form or color varieties as a result of discontinuous variation.
4. Genetics. the presence of two or more distinct phenotypes in a population due to the expression of different alleles of a given gene, as human blood groups O, A, B, and AB.

polymorphism

/ ˌpɒlɪˈmɔːfɪzəm /

noun

1. biology
   1. the occurrence of more than one form of individual in a single species within an interbreeding population
   2. the occurrence of more than one form in the individual polyps of a coelenterate colony
2. the existence or formation of different types of crystal of the same chemical compound

polymorphism

/ pŏl′ē-môr′fĭz′əm /

1. The occurrence of more than one form, as several alleles of a particular gene or winged and wingless forms of the same species. In bees, the presence of queen, worker, and drone is an example of polymorphism. Differences between the sexes and between breeds of domesticated animals are not considered examples of polymorphism.
2. The crystallization of a compound in at least two distinct forms. Diamond and graphite, for example, are polymorphs of the element carbon. They both consist entirely of carbon but have different crystal structures and different physical properties.

Other Words From

• poly·mor·phistic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of polymorphism¹

First recorded in 1830–40; polymorph + -ism

Example Sentences

For the most part I think people are familiar with what scientists call SNPs, single nucleotide polymorphisms, and what other people might refer to as mutations.

From Science News

So we conducted a genetic investigation that looked for single-nucleotide polymorphisms, or “snips”—differences in a single DNA building block between one plant and another.

From Popular-Science

We now understand the process by which a polymorphic race maintains its polymorphism.

From Project Gutenberg

Four days later, after the fourth ecdysis, the dimorphism becomes a polymorphism.

From Project Gutenberg

On these grounds I designate the phenomenon as polymorphism, although it may not yet have reached, as such, its sharpest limits.

From Project Gutenberg

It is chiefly amongst the microscopic species that polymorphism has been determined.

From Project Gutenberg

This system of reproduction is again noticed more in detail in the chapter on polymorphism.

From Project Gutenberg